Vermont news

• Small health reform company struggles to get Medicaid contract

  14-07-2017 23:22 via vtdigger.org
  
  Kate Simmons, center, the director of Community Health Accountable Care, speaks​ at a Green Mountain Care Board meeting Thursday. Photo by Erin Mansfield/VTDigger
   
  A small health reform company that has pushed back against joining Vermont’s largest network of hospitals is struggling to continue doing business with the state’s Medicaid program and the state’s largest health insurance company.
  The company, Community Health Accountable Care, or CHAC, is an accountable
  
  Read more

• Caring For Loved Ones With Memory Loss bit.ly/2sZVsNg https://t.co/kjnFGf8J8P

  14-07-2017 23:17 via twitter.com
  
  Caring For Loved Ones With Memory Loss bit.ly/2sZVsNg https://t.co/kjnFGf8J8P
  
  Read more

• Protesters demand justice for rescued dogs

  14-07-2017 23:13
  
  An animal advocacy group rallied in Hyde Park Friday. The group demanded justice for more than 80 animals seized from an Eden home and answers about why the woman who had them won't go to trial. 
  
  Read more

• Vt. Guard soldiers could be deployed in 2019 or 2020

  14-07-2017 23:11
  Vermont National Guard soldiers are preparing for a possible deployment in 2019 or 2020. 
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Volunteers battle invasive aquatic plant

  14-07-2017 23:10
  An effort is underway to save St. Albans Bay from an invasive aquatic plant. 
  
  Read more

• Vermont hay farmers struggle with wet fields

  14-07-2017 23:10
  
  A wet summer means a terrible year for hay farmers. In fact, one farmer says when looking back at the past two decades, this year ranks among the worst of the worst. 
  
  Read more

• Former treasurer accused of stealing from volunteer fire company

  14-07-2017 23:08
  
  The former treasurer of the Isle La Motte Volunteer Fire Company faces embezzlement charges. 
  
  Read more

• State regulators investigate Vermont Gas pipeline burial depth

  14-07-2017 22:42 via vtdigger.org
  
  A sign alerts drivers and residents to Vermont Gas pipeline construction work in Williston. Photo by Morgan True / VTDigger
  State regulators are investigating whether Vermont Gas Systems buried a pipeline in Addison County as deeply as required by its permit.
  The attorney who requested the investigation said the pipeline burial depth was too shallow innumerous locations.The pipeline’s 2013 permit required it to be buried at least four feet deep in a 2,500-foot section near New Haven, but i
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Rutland grand list stays above $1 billion despite $10 million dip

  14-07-2017 21:34 via vtdigger.org
  
  RUTLAND – Rutland City’s grand list still tops $1 billion, but it has dropped over the past year by $10 million.
  The grand list is the assessed value of the property in the city. Recent figures prepared by the city’s assessor’s office show that the current grand list stands at $1,009,768,434. That’s a dip of $10,815,046, or about 1 percent, from the previous year’s value of $1,020,583,480.
  ‘It’s a number of things, it’s hard to pinpoint one o
  
  Read more

• Vote on Otter season extension postponed

  14-07-2017 20:54 via vtdigger.org
  
  A river otter. Photo by Ken Thomas/Wikimedia Commons
  A Vermont legislative committee has postponed a decision on a proposal to lengthen the otter trapping season. This postponement, voted on last week, adds another chapter to a long and vigorous public debate.
  “It’s a highly contentious issue,” said Brenna Galdenzi, president and founder of animal advocacy group Protect Our Wildlife. In a phone interview following the hearing, she said, “Whenever there’s an issue of
  
  Read more

• Norwich University launches Governor’s Institute program

  14-07-2017 20:20 via vtdigger.org
  
  News Release — Norwich UniversityJuly 14, 2017
  Contact:Daphne Larkin802-485-2886
  Norwich University Launches Inaugural Governor’s Institute in Architecture, Design & Building
  NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Norwich University welcomes 36 Vermont high school students on Sunday, July 16, for its inaugural Governor’s Institute on Architecture, Design & Building, a brand new Governor’s Institute of Vermont (GIV) program.
  The institute offers a residential week of hands-on lea
  
  Read more

• Scott meets with Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation

  14-07-2017 20:11 via vtdigger.org
  
  News Release — Gov. Phil ScottJuly 11, 2017
  Contact:Rebecca Kelley
  [email protected]
  GOVERNOR PHIL SCOTT, ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS MEET WITH REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE CENTER FOR MEDICARE AND MEDICAID INNOVATION
  Montpelier, Vt. – Tuesday, Governor Phil Scott met with Dr. Stephen Cha, Fatema Salam and Rivka Friedman of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), as part of the federal organization’s day-long visit to Vermont.
  Governor Scott provide
  
  Read more

• McAllister takes the stand in his sex assault trial

  14-07-2017 19:16 via vtdigger.org
  
  Former lawmaker Norm McAllister takes the stand to testify Friday, the third day of his trial, at Vermont Superior Court in St. Albans. Pool photo by Ryan Mercer/Burlington Free Press
  This post will be updated.
  ST. ALBANS — In an unexpected turn of events on what was anticipated to the last day of former state Sen. Norm McAllister’s sexual assault trial, he took the stand Friday contradicting the allegations of his accuser.
  Far from propositioning her in 2012 when she was hired to mi
  
  Read more

• Leahy urges Drug Enforcement Administration to lower opioid quotas

  14-07-2017 18:34 via vtdigger.org
  
  News Release — Sen. Patrick LeahyJuly 11, 2017
  Contact:David Carle(202) 224-3693
  Leahy Joins Durbin And Other Senators In Urging DEA To Lower Opioid Quotas To Combat Prescription Drug Abuse
  . . . After years of the agency allowing skyrocketing opioid production, senators call on DEA to again heed their request to lower quota
  WASHINGTON (TUESDAY, July 11, 2017) – U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has joined Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and a group of 15 other senators in sending a le
  
  Read more

• Northern NY man sentenced for killing 3 family members

  14-07-2017 18:11
  
  A man convicted of fatally shooting his mother, stepfather and stepbrother inside the family's rural upstate New York home six years ago has been sentenced to more than eight decades in prison.
  
  Read more

• How to stay safe swimming in Vt. waterways

  14-07-2017 18:03
  
  The Vermont Department of Public Safety has issued a warning about potentially unsafe swimming. 
  
  Read more

• McAllister takes the stand in sex crimes trial

  14-07-2017 17:52
  
  A dramatic twist in the sex assault case against a former Vermont state senator. The accused took the stand. 
  
  Read more

• Green Mountain Power ranks in customer satisfaction

  14-07-2017 17:52 via vtdigger.org
  
  News Release — Green Mountain PowerJuly 13, 2017
  Contact:Kristin Carlson
  [email protected]
  Green Mountain Power is excited to announce it has achieved the second highest score for mid-sized utilities in the East Region in J.D. Power’s 2017 electric utility residential customer satisfaction study. Companies in the midsize utility segment serve between 100,000 and 499,999 residential customers. Last year GMP achieved the top score in the study, demonstrating contin
  
  Read more

• Large police contingent expected at slain NY trooper's funeral

  14-07-2017 17:51
  
  Several thousand law enforcement officers from across the U.S. and Canada are expected to attend this weekend's funeral for a New York state trooper killed in the line of duty.
  
  Read more

• Burlington man imprisoned for attempted bank robbery

  14-07-2017 17:45 via vtdigger.org
  
  News Release — U.S. Department of JusticeJuly 12, 2017
  Contact:(802) 951-6725Fax: (802) 951-6540
  James Bristol Imprisoned For Attempted Bank Robbery
  The United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that James Bristol, 45, of Burlington, was sentenced today in United States District Court in Burlington to 30 months of imprisonment following his guilty plea to a charge of attempted bank robbery. Chief U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss also ordered that Bristol serve a three
  
  Read more

• Police: Vt. student charged with violating conditions

  14-07-2017 17:43
  
  Police say a Bristol man accused of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old violated his conditions of release twice. 
  
  Read more

• Vermont Environmental Stewardship Program recognizes farmers

  14-07-2017 17:32 via vtdigger.org
  
  News Release — Gov. Phil ScottJuly 13, 2017
  Contact:Rebecca Kelley802-828-6403
  [email protected]
  Alison Kosakowski802-272-4547
  [email protected]
  THE SOIL TELLS A STORY: NEW PILOT PROGRAM WILL RECOGNIZE FARMERS OUTSTANDING IN THEIR FIELD
  Pilot program launching July 2017: open to agricultural producers committed to excellence in environmental land management.
  You can tell a lot about a farm by looking closely at the soil. That’s why the new, statewide program to r
  
  Read more

• Maryland-to-Northern NY heroin ring busted, 10 arrested

  14-07-2017 17:30
  
  Federal authorities say 10 people, one of them a state prison guard, have been charged in connection with a heroin trafficking operation in northern New York.
  
  Read more

• Regulators probe whether Vt. Gas pipeline buried deep enough

  14-07-2017 17:25
  
  Vermont regulators are investigating whether Vermont Gas Systems failed to bury its new gas pipeline from Colchester to Middlebury deep enough in New Haven.
  
  Read more

• NH lawmaker accused of sexually assaulting 16-year-old girl

  14-07-2017 17:23
  
  A New Hampshire lawmaker has been accused of sexually and physically assaulting a 16-year-old girl in 2016.
  
  Read more

• SCOV Law Blog: Probation violation appealed on grounds that GPS monitoring violates rights

  14-07-2017 17:09 via vtdigger.org
  
  Editor’s note: This piece from the SCOV Law Blog is by Eric Fanning. 
  State v. Kane 2017 VT 36
  Creative Commons photo by walknboston via Flickr
  What we have here, folks, is a violation of probation appeal. Probation is a court-imposed criminal sentence where the convicted offender is released into the community instead of going to jail. Virtually all probationers have to abide by certain conditions while serving their sentence. If the probationer violates those conditions or fails to
  
  Read more

• Local investing leaders provide insight

  14-07-2017 16:49 via vtdigger.org
  
  News Release — Vermont State Employees Credit UnionJuly 13, 2017
  Contact:Yvonne Garand
  [email protected]
  Louisa Schibli and Janice Shade
  [email protected]
  Leaders in Local Investing Provide Investment Insights for Everyday Vermonters
  VSECU to Host Lunch and Learn in Montpelier
  MONTPELIER, VT, JULY 12, 2017 –At noon on Wednesday, July 19, VSECU, Vermont’s only credit union serving all Vermonters, will host a free “Invest Local” lunch and le
  
  Read more

• Vt. attorney general warns of phone scam

  14-07-2017 16:33
  
  An alert from the Vermont attorney general's office about a phone scam circulating around the state. 
  
  Read more

• Indian nations by US-Canada border to hold summit next month

  14-07-2017 16:28
  
  A summit on issues faced by tribal governments by the U.S.-Canada border will be held next month in Minnesota.
  
  Read more

• Shaheen, Hassan don't find good news in new health bill

  14-07-2017 16:17
  
  New Hampshire's Democratic U.S. senators are not finding good news in the latest version of the health care bill released by GOP leaders.
  
  Read more

• Public hearing set for NH economic development commissioner

  14-07-2017 16:15
  When it comes to business recruitment and economic development, New Hampshire is taking a divide-and-conquer approach.
  
  Read more

• Pilot killed in NH plane crash

  14-07-2017 16:14
  
  New Hampshire authorities say aircraft, drones and ATVs were used in an hours-long search to find a small plane that crashed in a heavily wooded area. The pilot was found dead.
  
  Read more

• Sununu pleased by investigation of prep school sex abuse

  14-07-2017 16:11
  
  New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu says he's encouraged by the attorney general office's decision to investigate allegations of sexual assault and misconduct at an elite prep school.
  
  Read more

• Sanders' representatives to hold meeting with seniors

  14-07-2017 16:07
  
  The office of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and the Central Vermont Council on Aging are holding a public meeting in Barre on issues affecting seniors.
  
  Read more

• Middlebury man faces lewd and lascivious charges

  14-07-2017 15:56
  
  A Middlebury man is charged with masturbating in Bristol on the edge of a river.
  
  Read more

• Senate Appropriations Committee Democrats offer amendment for veterans

  14-07-2017 15:55 via vtdigger.org
  
  News Release — Sen. Patrick LeahyJuly 13, 2017
  Contact:Jay Tilton202-224-2667
  Senate Appropriations Committee Democrats Offer $1.6 Billion Amendment To Care For Nation’s Veterans
  . . . Amendment is the first a series to be offered by Committee Democrats to highlight what Congress should be doing to invest in the American people. . .
  WASHINGTON (THURSDAY, July 13, 2017) — Democrats on the Senate Appropriations Committee Thursday offered a $1.6 billion amendment that would have s
  
  Read more

• Vermont Works for Women receives McClure Foundation grant

  14-07-2017 15:50 via vtdigger.org
  
  News Release — Vermont Works for WomenJuly 13, 2017
  Contact:Amy Caldwellp.802.655.6900c.802.782.4654
  [email protected]
  VERMONT WORKS FOR WOMEN RECEIVES GRANT FROM THE J. WARREN & LOIS McCLURE FOUNDATION
  WINOOSKI, VERMONT / JULY 13, 2017 – Vermont Works for Women announces the receipt of a one year grant from the J. Warren and Lois McClure Foundation to further the opportunities of high school girls to explore career opportunities through a one day expo at Vermont Tech
  
  Read more

• Condos inducted president-elect of National Association of Secretaries of State

  14-07-2017 15:34 via vtdigger.org
  
  News Release — Secretary of State Jim CondosJuly 13, 2017
  Contact:Eric Covey802-828-2148
  Secretary Condos Inducted As President-elect of the National Association of Secretaries of State
  On Monday, July 10th Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos was chosen by a bi-partisan group of his peers as President-elect of the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) at the Summer Conference in Indianapolis.
  NASS serves as a medium for Secretaries across the country to share ideas and best
  
  Read more

• Kinney Drugs Foundation donates to University of Vermont Medical Center

  14-07-2017 15:14 via vtdigger.org
  
  News Release — University of Vermont Medical CenterJuly 13, 2017
  Contact:Michael Carrese(802) 847-2886
  Kinney Drugs Foundation Donates $250,000 to Miller Inpatient Building
  BURLINGTON (VT) – The Kinney Drugs Foundation is donating $250,000 to provide supportive spaces for families in the Robert E. and Holly D. Miller Building at the University of Vermont Medical Center, which will contain 128 new single-patient rooms. Completion of the building is expected in the Fall of 2019.
  Patien
  
  Read more

• Leahy reaction to latest health care plan

  14-07-2017 14:54 via vtdigger.org
  
  News Release — Sen. Patrick LeahyJuly 13, 2017
  Contact:David Carle(202) 224-3693
  Reaction Of Senator Patrick Leahy To The Latest Trumpcare Plan From Senate Republican Leaders
  Senate Trumpcare 2.0 is just as bad as earlier versions and in some ways is worse.
  This remains a stumbling, shameful and craven exercise to pass a tax bill in the guise of a health care bill. The ‘mean’ House bill the President described keeps getting meaner. Lost to many in the White House and on Capitol
  
  Read more

• Unpermitted salvage yard fined

  14-07-2017 14:26 via vtdigger.org
  
  News Release — Vermont Agency of Natural ResourcesJuly 13, 2017
  Media Contact:Randy J. Miller, II
  [email protected]
  Unpermitted, Polluting Salvage Yard Fined $25k
  Montpelier – The Agency of Natural Resources announced today that Blakeman’s Towing and Recovery, an automotive towing and recovery business located in Tunbridge, was fined $25,000 for operating in violation of state salvage yard and land use laws, and hazardous waste management regulations.
  Salvage
  
  Read more

• Leahy White River Junction Veterans Affairs facility approved

  14-07-2017 14:09 via vtdigger.org
  
  News Release — Sen. Patrick LeahyJuly 13, 2017
  Contact:David Carle(202) 224-3693
  Leahy Notches Budget Win For White River Junction VA Facility As Appropriations Committee Approves VA Appropriations Bill
  WASHINGTON (THURSDAY, June 13, 2017) – The Senate Appropriations Committee Thursday approved legislation to fund the Veterans Affairs Administration (VA), staving off “devastating” cuts proposed by the Trump Administration to a facility in Vermont and securing additional r
  
  Read more

• Lewd and Lascivious charges for Middlebury man

  14-07-2017 06:52
  
  A Middlebury man is charged with masturbating in Bristol on the edge of a river.
  
  Read more

• Goats stolen in Randolph

  14-07-2017 06:52
  
  A Vermont farmer needs your help finding her stolen goats.
  
  Read more

• Investigation launched into alleged NH prep school sex assaults

  14-07-2017 02:39
  
  The New Hampshire Attorney General's Office is launching a criminal investigation into allegations of sexual assault and misconduct at an elite prep school.
  
  Read more

• The Deeper Dig: The Trump budget threat

  14-07-2017 02:12 via vtdigger.org
  
  Supporters of President Donald Trump watch his inaugural speech. File photo by Jasper Craven/VTDigger
  While new information regarding Russian government involvement in President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign dominated national news this week, VTDigger’s Washington, D.C., reporting has focused on a different story from the Trump White House.
  Multiple budget proposals released by the Trump administration this spring have provided a revealing look into the president’s funding
  
  Read more

• Morgan True discusses college probe on WBUR’s ‘On Point’

  14-07-2017 02:09 via vtdigger.org
  
  Morgan True, VTDigger’s Burlington bureau chief, was a guest on WBUR’s nationally syndicated public radio program “On Point” Thursday morning. True told host John Harwood about the origin of the federal probe into the land deal Jane Sanders made as president of Burlington College.
  Records obtained by VTDigger in April confirmed that investigators were looking into allegations that Sanders overstated pledged donation amounts in an application for a bank 
  
  Read more

• McAllister accuser: Plight meant ‘none of it felt consensual’

  14-07-2017 01:57 via vtdigger.org
  
  Former state Sen. Norm McAllister during his sexual assault and prostitution trial in St. Albans. Pool photo by the County Courier
  ST. ALBANS — The woman whom former state Sen. Norm McAllister is charged with sexually assaulting testified Thursday that she agreed to trade sex for rent and a job only out of desperation.
  The two met in 2012 while the woman was living in transitional housing with her infant daughter and working to regain custody of her other children. She was unable to find t
  
  Read more

• Gobeille: Opioid crisis ‘is ubiquitous. It’s literally everywhere’

  14-07-2017 01:49 via vtdigger.org
  
  Al Gobeille, secretary of the state Agency of Human Services, speaks Thursday in Rutland about opioid addiction in Vermont. Photo by Alan J. Keays/VTDigger
  RUTLAND — The head of the state government’s largest agency was speaking Thursday in Rutland when a little girl darted in front of him.
  “Can I get a high-five?” Al Gobeille, secretary of the Agency of Human Services, asked the toddler.
  She kept running, then whizzed past him again.
  “Maybe a fist bump?” the
  
  Read more

• Senate GOP tries again; Vermont health care leaders shudder

  14-07-2017 01:24 via vtdigger.org
  
  Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., center, is mobbed as he leaves a Washington meeting on the new Senate Republican health care proposal. Photo by Elizabeth Hewitt/VTDigger
  WASHINGTON — The latest legislation in a Republican-led effort to reform health care would fund more substance abuse treatment and give fewer tax breaks to wealthy families.
  Senate leaders say the first vote on the bill will take place next week. However, several reluctant Republican senators remain undecided about the legislat
  
  Read more

Follow @NewsVermont_ on Twitter!